muMs da Schemer

• Birth Name — Craig O'Neil Grant • Other Names — Craig muMs Grant • Years Active — 1996–2021 • Born — 18 December 1968 • Birthplace — New York City, New York, U.S. • Place of death — Wilmington, North Carolina, U.S. • Occupation — Actor, poet

Grant was born in New York City and raised in the Bronx. His father, Samuel, was a locksmith and carpenter at Montefiore Hospital, and his mother, Theresa (née Maxwell), was a teacher. He attended Mount St. Michael Academy High School, Bronx, New York. He first gained widespread attention as a poet and performer when he was featured in the documentary SlamNation, which followed him and the other poets of 1996 Nuyorican Poetry Slam Team (Saul Williams, Beau Sia and Jessica Care Moore) as they competed at the 1996 National Poetry Slam. Grant took the name "muMs" when he was 20 and performing in a rap group. Due to retaining traces of a childhood lisp, a friend suggested he call himself “Mumbles”, which Grant shortened to "muMs", as an acronym for "manipulator under Manipulation shhhhhhh!" In Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam, author Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz wrote of Grant's time in slam poetry, noting his writing "was street poetry at its purest. Thoughtful, precise but not without humor, his work spoke honestly about the life he and his friends and family lived and the city that he loved." muMs performed his poetry on seasons 2, 3 and 4 of HBO's Def Poetry Jam, and was a member of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company. In October 2007, muMs played a role in A View from 151st Street, a play about people trying to reconstruct their lives after gunfire. In September 2014, muMs wrote and performed "A Sucker Emcee", hip-hop and slam poetry, based on his personal recollections. In February 2015, muMs' play, titled Paradox of the Urban Cliché, about a young couple living in Harlem, was performed at the Wild Project as part of the Poetic Theater Productions's Poetic License festival. In February 2015, muMs played a role in The Insurgents, a play about rage among the free, brave, and disenfranchised, produced by LAByrinth Theater Company. Grant guest-starred in the 2016 Netflix series Luke Cage as Reggie "Squabbles", and was featured as a recurring character, Ricardo, on three episodes of Louis C.K.'s web series Horace and Pete. He appeared in two films by Steven Soderbergh, and had supporting roles in films including Bringing Out the Dead, Bamboozled, Birdman, and Good Time.

Grant died in Wilmington, North Carolina on March 24, 2021, aged 52. His manager, Sekka Scher, said the cause was complications of diabetes.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1997–2003 — OZ — Arnold "Poet" Jackson — Recurring Cast • 2002 — Hack — Omar — Episode: "My Brother's Keeper" • 2003 — Chappelle's Show — Lysol — Episode: "Mad Real World & Ask A Gay Dude" • 2003–05 — Def Poetry Jam — Himself — Recurring Guest • 2004 — The Jury — Curtice Redding — Episode: "Last Rites" • 2006 — The Sopranos — Mop — Episode: "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh" • Law & Order: Criminal Intent — Cousin Chet — Episode: "To the Bone" • 2007 — Honesty — Mailman — Episode: "Black Mailman" • Boston Legal — Joseph Washington — Recurring Cast: Season 4 • 2008 — Law & Order — Freddie — Episode: "Challenged" • 2009 — Cold Case — Zeb 'Zen' Edwards '09 — Episode: "Read Between the Lines" • 2013 — Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — Eddie Baker — Episode: "Beautiful Frame" • East Willy B — Ray — Episode: "Operation Strike Team" • 2014 — The Knick — Hernia Patient — Episode: "The Busy Flea" • Blue Bloods — Leon Bendix — Episode: "Under the Gun" • 2015 — Nurse Jackie — Wayne — Episode: "Deal" • 2016 — Horace and Pete — Ricardo — Recurring Cast • Luke Cage — Reggie "Squabbles" — Episode: "Step in the Arena" • 2017–19 — She's Gotta Have It — Cash Jackson — Recurring Cast: Season 1, Guest: Season 2 • 2019 — NCIS: New Orleans — Larry — Episode: "Reckoning" • City on a Hill — Truancy Officer — Episode: "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City" • 2020 — High Maintenance — Cedric — Episode: "Screen" • Bull — Walter Mora — Episode: "Off the Rails" • The Last O.G. — Reggie — Episode: "Warning" • 2020–21 — Hightown — Wayne Grasa — Recurring Cast: Season 1, Guest: Season 2 • 2021 — All the Queen's Men — Paul Harold — Recurring Cast: Season 1

• Year — Title — Role • 2005 — The Warriors — Additional Soldier • 2008 — Midnight Club: Los Angeles — Ian • Grand Theft Auto IV — The Crowd of Liberty City • 2009 — Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned — DeSean — voice and motion capture

• Year — Title — Role • 1998 — SlamNation — Himself

Identity and origins. MuMs da Schemer was recorded at birth as Craig O’Neil Grant. The authorities additionally record the headings Craig muMs Grant, Craig Grant and Craig O'Neil Grant. His recorded language was English.